Yellow ribbons are scattered across Eastern Michigan University’s campus in honor of every Michigan soldier who died post-9/11.
A ribbon, a photo, and an obituary of each of 227 soldiers being honored were pinned last week to the same number of trees around campus in honor of Memorial Day.
One of the 227 ribbons found on EMU's campus this Memorial Day weekend, honoring fallen Michigan soldiers.
Daniel Brenner | AnnArbor.com
EMU’s Student Veterans Association members organized the honor for the fallen soldiers this Memorial Day weekend and educate fellow students about the true meaning of the holiday: Paying respect to those who died defending our country.
Josh Curtis, president of the Student Veterans Association and a US Army veteran, said in an email that hearing students talk about Memorial Day weekend plans made him wonder if they understood the reason for the vacation day.
“After talking with many of my fellow SVA members, we decided that we should really do something this Memorial Day to not only honor our fallen brothers and sisters, but to remind the student body of the costs of war and freedom,” Curtis said.
SVA members, with the help of the Military and Veterans Resource Center, put together the 227 ribbons. On Thursday, they posted the assembled ribbons throughout campus in the cold and rain.
“It was very humbling for us and we were proud to be able to honor our fallen,” Curtis said.
SVA members decided to honor Michigan heroes because honoring all of the 6,000 plus nationwide lost in Iraq and Afghanistan wars with individual markers on campus trees would not be physically possible, Curtis said.